Circle's End
by Areumin
Summary: It was a vicious cycle until I met you. [ Jean x Armin college fic, involving several side pairings. ]
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Welcome all! Eeeeee, I'm so excited to kick this fic off because I have so many ideas in mind. owo This story is set in a fictional world (no they're not in Europe. I'm American and it would just sound really stupid if I tried to do that) with the names of places in the show. Basically Trost – where they all live and go to school – has ton of recreation, accessible transportation, and it's a bayside town. It's sorta like LA in that sense. Also it's renowned for its excellent school system. It's essentially perfect isn't it? Haha. – But anyway, please enjoy this pilot chapter and give feedback. I'm serious about the feedback I really love feedback ;;

* * *

_Thursday, July 10__th__, 1:22ppm_

"You know, Armin…" Eren sat the suitcase he was holding by his feet and turned towards the door before them, his head tilting. "There's still time for you to change your mind and just move in with me."

Armin had to stifle his laughter as his friend spoke. Of course Eren would say something like this now, when he was pretty much finished settling into his new place. It _was_ kind of cute how clingy Eren was to him. But Armin knew living on his own – well not really on his own, but still – would be a good experience. "Forgive me." He said, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jeans to retrieve his key. Just grasping the metal his hand felt surreal. "We can still see each other at school, _and_ work."

Eren grumbled, but he knew it was the truth. When Armin had moved from Shiganshina Eren had been in dire need of a job, so his friend had found work for him waiting tables at Olive Garden, a job Armin had for several months before he moved to Trost and was relocated.

Armin fitted the key into the lock and twisted it. He had to admit he was all nerves at that moment; on the other side of the door was an impressive three-bedroom spread – one of the nicer ones in the student-housing district – complete with a living room, open kitchen and one large bathroom. He'd seen the apartment countless times over the week when he and Eren were moving his stuff in but now he was coming to live. _Permanently_. Armin couldn't bury the excitement boiling in his heart.

How had he been able to afford such a luxurious feat? Along with the student discount, it just so happened one of the two guys he was rooming with was some heir to the fortune of a bustling ski lodge up in the mountains. _Jean Kirschtein._ He and Connie Springer – his other roommate – had went to high school with Eren. There was an obvious air of animosity between Eren and Jean though; hence the reason his brunet friend had so adamantly tried to deter Armin from accepting the offer to room with them.

The blonde found himself smiling as he remembered the event. It was about a week or so ago, and he and Eren were on the subway mezzanine waiting for the next train to take them back to Eren's place. Jean had spotted them sitting together and approached.

* * *

"_Yo, that your new squeeze, Jaeger?"_

_Armin blinked, glancing up from his Kindle to see who had called out. He met the gaze of two hazel brown eyes – that belonged to a rather attractive boy, if he should say so himself –staring at he and Eren as he advanced towards them in quick strides. The mystery boy had a smug grin wiped over his lips, one that seemed to rouse irritation in Eren because he shot up from the bench they were seated at as soon as he noticed his presence. _

_The mystery boy stood a few inches taller than Eren; Armin noted when they came to stand face to face. He had dusty brown hair and a long face that one might compare to a horse if they were fishing for insults. But Armin thought he was handsome. _Really handsome._ He pressed the 'hold' button on his tablet and rose up so he could get a better look. He was clad in a pair of black Adidas shorts and a muscle tee of the same brand. Had he just come from working out? His limbs were muscled, but they certainly didn't look as if they belonged to someone who regularly visited the gym. Armin pursed his lips, but before he could further mull over it he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. _

"_Fuck off, Jean. No." Eren nearly growled at the other male. "This is Armin. My friend from Shiganshina, you idiot."_

_This "Jean" character raised those perfectly-arched eyebrows – one of which had a curved barbell pierced into it - and inclined forward. "Oh, I've heard you and Mikasa mention him a few times, yeah."_

'He knows Mikasa?' _Armin's eyes widened slightly but he remained silent. His gaze never left Jean. From the looks of it, he was around the same age as he and Eren. Perhaps a year older? _

_A moment passed before Jean turned to look directly at Armin. Those hazel eyes gave a gaze so intense the blonde nearly had to take a step back. But he held his ground. He silently wondered if he'd noticed him staring. _

"_Hey… sorry for being rude. I'm Jean Kir-" Jean offered his arm out to him but the contact was instantly cut off by Eren's hand coming down to hit the underside of his elbow. The taller male yelped in pain and retracted his arm, sputtering out swears under his breath. Armin frowned._

"_Eren!" He wriggled out from beneath his hold. _

"_You're better off not knowing him." Eren shrugged as if he wasn't at all in the wrong. "Believe me."_

_Armin scrunched his nose and sent his friend a warning glare. "I'll be the one to decide that." He shifted his eyes back to Jean, who was baring his teeth at Eren. _'Why do they dislike each other so much?' _Several possible explanations flooded his mind but he knew it'd be easier to just ask. He made a mental note to pester Eren about it later._

"_I apologize on Eren's behalf." Armin bent his arm and blocked Eren from moving any closer, much to the brunet's dismay. He tucked his Kindle into his messenger bag so he could offer his hand to him. "I'm Armin Arlert. Nice to meet you." _

_The grin Jean wore was replaced by a toothy smile as he grasped Armin's hand in his own. Armin expected a callous feel but was instead greeted with soft and smooth skin. _'Has this kid ever done any work in his life? Well he's dressed head to toe in Adidas…'_ "Jean Kirschtein." There was probably more that was said but Armin couldn't hear him over the horn and loud screech, followed by a gust of wind that indicated the arrival of the train._

"_You should cut your hair, Ar." Eren near-shouted, laughing when he noticed the struggle Armin was having keeping the blond locks from blowing about when the wind was kicked up. _

_Armin rolled his eyes. "I like the length." He took the band that was on his wrist and pulled the top half of his hair into a ponytail. "Besides… I think I'd probably look weird with short hair, don't you?" He sent his friend a small grin and Eren nodded thoughtfully, tugging him onto the train when it slowed to a stop in front of them._

_Jean simply smirked and boarded the train behind them, which evoked an exasperated groan from Eren._

"_You following us, Horse Face?"_

'Horse face...'_ Armin held in a giggle. _

"_Oh please." Jean dropped down into a seat and propped his legs up. "I'm meeting Connie and Sasha for a movie. We're going to see How to Train Your Dragon~" The last part of his sentence held a playful undertone, which caused Eren to snarl. _

"_Fuck you." _

_Armin blinked, confused. "What?"_

"_Eren was Hiccup for Halloween last year." Jean was smirking as he said this, clearly pleased with himself for sharing such an embarrassing piece of information. Armin could only guess how long he'd been waiting to use it against him._

"_And you're a fuckin' creep for remembering." Eren scoffed and he sat down next to Armin, his arm resting on the handlebar to block any contact between he and Jean. _

_Armin laughed at the mental image he was conjuring up. He noticed the tops of Eren's ears beginning to redden – a tell-tale sign that he was embarrassed. "That's cute though!" He reached up to gently tug at the brunet's cheek. "I'd kill to see it." _

"_I'm pretty sure it's on Instagram somewhere." The smirk on Jean's lips seemed to broaden as he spoke. "Want me to give you mine?" _

_That was when Eren spoke up. He placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder and narrowed his eyes. "Armin doesn't have an Instagram." _

"_Well he should make one." Jean shrugged, then directed his attention back to the boy in question. "You staying in Trost permanently, Armin?" _

"_Yes." The blonde shifted in his seat, feeling slightly glad that he'd asked him that. "Eren and I are starting at Trost U in the fall." _

_Jean blinked. He looked a little surprised, but Armin could definitely detect a glint of something else in his eyes. Happiness? Perhaps...but for what reason? Armin would have found him cute just then if not for the dorky smile that was gracing his lips._

"_Really? I'll be seeing you on campus then." _

_Eren groaned again, but decided to occupy himself with messing around on his phone. _

"_What's your major?" The blonde tilted his head._

"_Art. Yours?"_

"_Astronomy." _

_Jean whistled and took his legs down so he could scoot a little closer. "Astronomy? ..So you wanna be an astronaut?" _

"_Um, no.." Armin shook his head, the corners of his lips rising into a small grin. "I just want to study the cosmos and write books about it." _

_The taller boy seemed awestruck by his words. "Cosmos? What's that?"_

"_It's the universe, Dingus." Came an offhanded comment from Eren, whose face was still downcast towards his phone. _

"_Eren," Armin plucked his arm. "Not everyone knows that."_

"_Yeah, Eh-Ren." Jean repeated, putting emphasis on both syllables of his name just to irritate him. "No need to be a condescending jerk." _

"_Big words, Jeanny Boy." Eren muttered, not even bothering to make contact as his hand lifted to flip him off. _

_Jean scoffed as he looked back to Armin. "Are you living with him right now, Armin? I'm genuinely sorry."_

_Armin covered his mouth and laughed again. The clear dislike between the two boys was more than little amusing. "Only temporarily. I'm looking for a place to rent in the student-housing district." _

"_You are?" Jean raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence, 'cause—"_

"_No." Eren's head shot up, eyes squint as he sent Jean an icy glare. "Do not even suggest that." _

_Armin was confused yet again. He tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear and tilted his head. "Suggest what..?" _

"_Me and my friend Connie have been searching for a third roommate." Jean said, his eyes fixed on Eren as he spoke. "We have a pretty nice three-bedroom apartment, and the rent's hella cheap because it's near the campus." _

_Armin could hear his friend growling, but he couldn't help but consider it. It was an amazing opportunity, he was sure Eren knew that if he'd just put his own biases aside. _

"_That sounds…"_

"_Awful." Eren folded his arms over his chest and turned his head to look at Armin, green eyes pleading. "You're not really considering it, are you?" He resembled a child so much at that moment._

_Armin sighed. "Eren," He placed his palm on the brunet's shoulder and gently squeezed. "I need to find a place close to school and Jean just made an amazing offer. You really want me to pass it up?" _

_And then Eren got pouty. "But he's a douche..." _

"_Hey!" Jean stuck his tongue out at Eren, and God, how old were they even? _

"_Play nice, you two." Armin glanced over at the taller boy and smiled. "Hey, Jean.. let's exchange numbers and discuss this later?"_

"_Armin, I'm telling you," Eren watched in horror as they both began to reach into their pockets for their phones. "You're not going to like living with him. He's a grade-A douchebag."_

"_Well he stomached living with you, right?" Jean chuckled and held out his white Galaxy S5 once he'd unlocked it. Armin stared at the device for a moment._ 'Wow.. I've only seen those on commercials..' _He suddenly felt self-conscious about his measly little iPhone 4S, but he mirrored Jean's actions and traded it anyway._

_As he typed in his number, Armin heard the conductor name the next station over the intercom. "Your next station will be UOT Square, doors opening on the left side." _

"_That's me." Jean stood and gripped onto the pole in the middle of the aisle, looking down at Eren with a smirk. "Eren, you're bringing him to karaoke night, right?"_

_Armin's ears perked as he handed Jean back his phone and received his in return. "Karaoke night?" He closed his eyes and all he could see was he, Eren and Mikasa playing with Mikasa's karaoke machine when they were kids. A smile found its way onto his lips. _

"_Yeah. Next Saturday. Our friends are renting out a room at this karaoke bar downtown." Jean dropped his phone back into his pocket. "You should come, since you're gonna be going to uni with all of us. A friend of Eren and Mikasa's is definitely a friend of ours." _

_Armin couldn't deny the warmth that settled in his chest at Jean's words. He'd never really had many friends, only Eren and Mikasa - and when they moved away, he'd been pretty much alone. Sure he had people he talked to in high school, but he wouldn't really consider them _actual friends_. When it came down to it, Armin had spent the majority of those years by himself. But he never complained. He always had his books and his grandpa, and that was more than enough to sustain him. _

_He looked up when he felt a hand slap onto his back._

"_I'll bring him, yeah. Armin has an _amazing_ singing voice." Eren shot his friend a small smile, which caused Armin to flush with embarrassment. Many people had said that, yes, but he was never one for handling compliments well. _

"_Don't exaggerate!" The blonde nearly pouted._

_Jean laughed and tightened his grip on the pole when the train stopped. "I'll be seeing you guys on Saturday, then?" He raised his eyebrows. _

_Armin tilted his head up to him and beamed. "Maybe sooner if we can get this rooming situation sorted out." He secretly hoped they would, of course. _

"_Unless he finds someone better suited to be his roommate." Eren groused, his eyes growing squint once more. "Which I'm sure he will."_

"_Don't be a little bitch, Jaeger." Jean snickered and reached down to lightly smack the side of his head. Eren moved to retaliate but Jean was already speed-walking towards the train's exit. "Fuck you." The brunet mumbled under his breath. _

"_Nice meeting you, Armin! See you guys." _

_Eren waved his hand dismissively, but Armin was far more enthusiastic. _

"_Bye Jean!" _

_Jean waved and back-walked out of the train, only to trip over a dent in the flooring on the mezzanine. Armin and Eren both broke out into fits of laughter. _

"_God, he's such an insufferable ass." Eren spoke through his gasps, his head shaking a few times. Armin ran a hand over his neck and looked back from the window, only to see Eren staring at him with a knowing look in his eyes._

"…_What?"_

"_I saw that, Armin."_

"_S-Saw what?" _'Oh God Eren, what are you on about..?'

_Eren reached over and gripped the back of the blonde's head, pulling him closer so their foreheads were mere centimeters apart. "You were giving that bastard googly eyes the whole entire time." _

"_What?!" Armin 'eeped' and drew backward, nearly hitting his head on the window. "I was not."_

"_You were." Eren snorted, but couldn't help a light chuckle. "You like him? Is that why you wanna move in with him?" _

"_Pardon?" Armin reached his hand up to push his bangs out of his eyes. "No, I don't like him. I just met him like fifteen minutes ago!" _

_That God-forsaken knowing look still remained on Eren's face, though. "Do you think he's cute?"_

_Armin paused for a moment then looked down at his lap, muttering softly. "…Perhaps, a little."_

"_Pfft. How the hell.." Eren's hands gripped onto the handlebar again. "How the hell can anyone find that douche cute?"_

_Armin pursed his lips and bent one of his legs to rest his foot on the seat. "I think he's nice. Well from what I've seen."_

"_Meh."_

"_Why do you dislike him?"_

_Eren huffed and returned his gaze to the blonde. He was smiling. "I don't dislike him. We went to high school together, and he's in my circle of friends. Our personalities just clash a lot, I guess." He shrugged. "Most of it is just playful bantering." _

_Armin nodded in understanding. The train moved along and they sat in silence, Armin leaning his head on his friend's broader shoulder._

"_If you do become his roommate…" Eren's voice was barely audible now. Armin had to lift his head to hear him properly. "Hm?"_

"_You won't start to like him more than me, will you?" _

_The question certainly caught Armin off-guard. Was be being serious? "….You're seriously asking that, dummy?" Armin smiled and leaned up to press a reassuring kiss to Eren's cheek, which caused the brunet to blush._

"_You know you're the only guy for me~" Armin's voice was playful, but his words was serious. Jean would never replace Eren. He couldn't. That was completely ridiculous._

"_Yeah, I better be." Eren looked over at his friend and smiled, reaching out to poke his nose._

* * *

Armin was still smiling as he pushed the door open. He leaned down to grasp his bag of pillows and made his way into the apartment, eyes immediately drawn to the far-side of the living room. Jean was posted at his easel, his back facing them, hips swaying to some miscellaneous grunge song that was blaring from the kitchen.

"Hey Horse Face, stop being a hipster for a second and come greet us." Eren rolled his eyes and walked in front of Armin, tossing the suitcase in the direction of the couch, the noise as well as Eren's voice causing Jean to spin around and nearly drop his paint pallet to the floor.

"Mother fuck- you're early." He sat his pallet and paintbrush down on his stool and wiped his hands on his jeans, padding across the room to stand in front of them. His eyes were fixed on Armin. "I definitely wasn't expecting you to bring the shithead."

"I needed assistance in lugging the last of my stuff over." Armin smiled and looked around the room, setting the pillows down on the floor. "You're here alone?"

"Yeah, Connie went grocery shopping."

"_Connie_ went grocery shopping?" Eren laughed and leaned on the arm of the couch.

"By grocery shopping I mean he went to go pick up more cup noodles."

"Sounds about right."

The guy in question, Connie Springer, was his other roommate and also Jean's best friend. Armin had always thought _he_ was short for his age – being the smallest in his graduating class and practically dwarfed next to Mikasa and Eren - but when he met Connie he was definitely struck. He could see why he was close to Jean though; they were a good balance of character – Armin has picked that up from only seeing them a few times together while he was moving his stuff in. And apparently they were dorky little shits when they all got together for group outings. Armin was curious to see it.

The blonde ran a hand through his hair and moved to join Eren on the couch, nudging him with his thigh. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Are you kicking me out? I'm hurt." Eren feigned a sob and kicked his legs up on the coffee table. Jean scowled.

"Fuck, Jaeger, this isn't your house."

"It's not yours either. It's the landlord's." He grinned over at him and heard the taller male mumble something on the lines of "smartass" under his breath.

Armin reached over and pinched his arm. "Karla said she wanted you back before three, remember?"

"Mommy setting a curfew for you now?" Jean smirked and made his way back over to his easel, picking up his pallet and checking if any colors had dried out.

"Fuck you, man." Eren hissed. "There are relatives over and she wants me there."

Armin slid his hand to his friend's shoulder and pulled them both up to stand. "Go home, Eren. I'm fine and I don't want your mom flipping out at you." He sent him a reassuring smile, but of course it fell on dead eyes.

"Hmph." Eren looked down at him, his expression stern. "If Jean does anything sketchy call me, and I'll be over like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. Armin just giggled.

"Everything will be fine. I promise."

"Pinky swear?" The brunet held his pinky up between them. Armin didn't hesitate to link it with his own and give a little tug.

"If you two are done being fags.." Jean coughed from the other end of the room, which caused Eren to snarl.

"Fuck off, Horseshit."

"You're calling me an animal and you're over there growling like a fucking demon."

Armin let go of Eren's hand and blew out a small laugh. "I'll see you at work tomorrow, okay?" He tilted his head up to grin at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Eren nodded and blew Armin a kiss with one hand, the other reaching out to flip Jean off yet again.

"You know what, you little—"

"See you guys, then?" Eren smirked and pulled the front door open, giving Armin one final glance before exiting the apartment and shutting the door with a click.

Once he was gone, Jean let out a loud, over-exaggerated sigh and returned his attention to his easel. "That kid is a fuckin' pain."

Armin just smiled in response. He knew Jean and Eren were good friends, despite the constant verbal abuse they dished out. It was pretty obvious when he looked to the bulletin board of Polaroids that was posted up above the TV. Right in the center was a picture of Jean, Connie and Eren that he presumed was taken not too long ago. They were in their graduation clocks and were cheesing so damned hard. It was adorable.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening again. Armin turned his head and saw Connie tumbling in with two large boxes of pizza balanced on his arm.

"Hey Armin! Wasn't expecting you until later!" The short male beamed over at him and kicked the door closed.

"Eren had somewhere to be and I needed his help." Armin rubbed the back of his neck, returning the smile with one of his own.

Jean practically galloped over to them when he realized what exactly was in Connie's possession. "What the hell happened to getting ramen?"

"You're complaining? Pizza Boli's was having a buy-one-get-one-half-off thing so…" Connie shrugged and moved to set the pizzas on the island counter in the kitchen. "I'm wondering if this is enough for all three of us.."

"What?" Armin was dumbfounded. Two large pizzas could last for a week between he and his grandfather. But he supposed this was a different situation, considering he was splitting it with two adolescent boys. But still.. _two large pizzas_?

"It'll work." Jean sauntered over to the counter, his fingers tapping his thigh to the beat of the song that blasted from his iPod speakers. He popped one of the boxes open and was delighted to see that it the first pie was topped with peperoni, sausage and green peppers. "There are nine slices on each pizza, so.. that's six for each of us."

Armin raised his hand to speak, blue eyes growing wide. "I'm probably – no, _I'm sure_ I'm not going to eat that much. You guys can have more."

"You sure?" Connie and Jean asked in unison.

"I'm sure." Armin nodded, grinning at the genuinely confused expression both the boys wore. Eren was definitely worrying too much. He'd be fine staying with these two, no problem. – …Except… maybe there was _one_ problem.

The problem that Jean was - by far - the hottest guy Armin had ever seen. And he wondered if he'd be able to help himself..

'_No, Armin. You can't go down this road..' _

No. He'd be strong. He was hardly worthy of being with someone like Jean anyway, even if it was pure attraction. He knew that already. He wasn't worthy of being anyone.

_He was filthy. _

But he'd keep his composure, of course. Armin drew in a breath and blinked a few times, walking over to join his roommates in the kitchen. Connie was fishing a six-pack of beer from the fridge.

Things would go swimmingly as long as he didn't get too close.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: cute awkward babies incoming. Eeeee. Thank you tumblr-user bravearmin for suggesting headcanons. I used them both here. C: Also gonna just pretend like I didn't name the first chapter because I'm not good at thinking of chapter names so yea. ENJOY AND LEAVE FEEDBACK.

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_Thursday, July 10__th__, 11:02pm_

**[ INCOMING CALL: Shithead Jaeger ]**

'_God, what does he want?'_

Jean stared at his phone, watching it light up and vibrate along the coffee table from his position on the couch. He supposed he should answer it; he didn't want the noise to wake the blond boy that was passed out a cushion over, but God, he really didn't want to hear Eren nagging him about "where the fuck is Armin" either.

'_I wonder how many times he'll call if I don't answer..'_

That wasn't a gamble Jean was all that willing to take, but still. He stared at the lock screen of his phone for three, long seconds before finally reaching forward and grabbing it. He'd just text Eren instead.

**[ SMS to: Shithead Jaeger ]** if you're gna pester me about Armin he's sound asleep so get off it.

**[ SMS from: Shithead Jaeger ]** why the fuck hasn't he been answering my calls? I've been calling him since six. Wtf did u do?

Jean was amazed – and honestly a little freaked out - by how quickly Eren had replied. He snorted and gave a quick glance to the boy on the opposite end of the couch. Armin was indeed sleeping soundly, as he had been for several hours now. He was curled up under a blanket with his cheek on the armrest and heck – Jean had to admit he looked cute. He'd contemplated just taking him to his bedroom but he didn't want to risk waking him.

**[ SMS to: Shithead Jaeger ]** srsly Eren. We were just chilling and Armin fell asleep. He must've been hella fuckin tired bc he's been asleep for a while now.

A smirk etched onto his lips as he opened up his camera and shifted a little. He opted to take a quick picture of himself, smirking widely with Armin asleep in the background.

'_Eren's going to flip out.'_

Ah yes, Jean would certainly enjoy the little shit's reaction. He settled back into a more comfortable position and examined the picture for a moment, and once satisfied he sent it to Eren with the caption "Armin's really cute, aint he?"

It only took thirty seconds for Eren to respond, as Jean expected.

**[ SMS from: Shithead Jaeger ]** fuck you horseshit.

Jean had to slap his hand over his mouth to keep from bellowing out a laugh.

**[ SMS to: Shithead Jaeger ]** gnight, ily.

He waited a moment to see if he'd receive any more messages after that, and when he didn't, he dawned a triumphant smirk. Jean reached into the pocket of his basketball shorts and grabbed his ear buds. He could probably get a sketch in before his better judgment would make him take Armin to bed. That position wouldn't be good for his neck; he knew that all too well.

He plugged his ear buds into his phone and opened up the music app, closing his eyes for a moment as he pressed shuffle. He heard the familiar tune of a piano start and he smiled, mouthing the lyrics of "All of Me" by John Legend. Jean grabbed his sketchbook, a pencil and his kneaded eraser from the shelf beneath the coffee table and sat back, flipping to a clean page. _'Hm.. what to draw..' _Golden eyes glanced about his surroundings before finally settling back on Armin. The image was rather enticing to draw, yes, but it'd be kind of weird..

His hand began to move on its own accord though. He found himself sketching out the contours of Armin's face at that adorable angle, the tip of his pencil dancing as he recreated the curve in his nose. _God_, what a nice nose Armin had. It was turned up slightly at the end, which somehow made him resemble a pixie in Jean's mind. _Fucking cute._

He hummed along to the music as he got down the general outline of his face and upper body, then scooted slightly closer as he began to add detail. Jean was having a lot more fun than he thought he would. But he wouldn't show this to Armin, of course. He wouldn't show it to anyone. How creepy would it sound if he tried to explain his reasoning? _Oh hi, Armin. Did you rest well? Come check out the drawing I did of you while you were asleep. _

No.

By the time the song had ended and another began, Jean had finished. He sat his pencil and eraser down and admired the work. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damned good, if he should say so himself.

A few more songs passed. At the start of "Elephants" by Them Crooked Vultures the brunet heard a muffled sound, and only when he looked up did he realize Armin was beginning to stir awake. He pushed his tongue into his inner cheek as he watched him rub at his eyes and slowly move into a sitting position. His lips mouthed something as sleepy blue hues fell on him.

"Huh?" Jean pulled the ear buds out. "Oh, you're awake."

Armin was blinking the remnants of sleep away as he surveyed the perimeter of the den. "Yeah… hi, Jean." He smiled softly and hugged the cover closer around his neck. His cheeks were pink. ..Why was he blushing?

"Hey." Jean let out an awkward chuckle and quickly flipped his sketchbook closed. No way was he letting Armin catch even the slightest glimpse of what he'd drawn.

"I'm on the couch…" Armin was speaking slowly, carefully. It sounded more like a question than anything else. Jean tilted his head and wondered if Armin had even remembered the events of earlier that day. "Yeah. We were all sitting around and you legit had two slices of pizza and a sip of beer and you just..." He laughed a little. "Passed out."

Armin had to let out a laugh himself. His laugh was airy and light, and even though his situation was awkward as hell he still found a way to be fucking adorable. _'Damn this little blond child.'_

"I sort of remember that." He nodded thoughtfully. "That was the first time I'd ever had any kind of alcoholic beverage besides wine." He burrowed a little beneath the blanket, seemingly choosing his next words. "..Where's Connie?"

At the mention of their third roommate, Jean smiled tightly. "Oh, he went out with his girlfriend. They offered to bring me along but… didn't want to leave you here to wake up to an empty apartment." Jean cleared his throat

"How thoughtful." Armin grinned, and if those words had come from anyone else Jean would have thought they were being sarcastic. But not Armin.

"But Jean…" The golden-haired boy shifted his gaze to the digital clock on the TV box, eyes blinking together. "It's late. I feel kind of guilty about you staying up so if you want to go—"

"No!" Jean's shout was a little louder than intended. Armin looked startled. He cleared his throat again and quickly composed himself. "I mean...no I'm not tired. I was just doing some sketches to kill time. I'm good." _'Fuck, why say that? Now he's gonna wonder...'_

"Sketches? Of what?"

'_Damn it.'_

"Oh, random stuff." Jean swallowed thickly and searched his mind for something to tell him. "…Some characters from a graphic novel I've been working on."

"Oh?" Armin threw the blanket off of his body and eyed Jean with interest. "That's actually really cool! I can't draw crap. Only write." He moved to sit cross legged with his back pressed to the arm of the couch so he faced the other male, still smiling brightly. "Can I see them?"

Jean just stared at Armin for a moment. How was he expected to say no to him? _Was there even a way to say no to him? _"…Maybe later, when they're finished..." He ran his hand over the back of his neck. "And I'm feeling more confident."

Armin scrunched his nose and leaned forward, his fingers reaching to touch to Jean's bicep in a reassuring manner. Jean had to bite his lip to keep his cool. How the fuck did something so platonic and simple done by someone he only just met have this effect on him? _'It's probably because he's fucking cute...' _

"Don't be silly. I saw that painting you were working on earlier." Armin jerked his head towards the other side of the room, where Jean's easel was posted against the wall. "You're really good! But if you don't want to show me it's totally okay." He sat back then and rested his elbows on the thighs of his jeans, his smile not faltering in the slightest. "I'm that way about my writing, honestly."

The brunet let out a breath he hadn't realize he'd been holding. He found himself running his hand over his neck yet again – a habitual way of showing his shyness – and he returned the smile. "Thank you, Armin." Jean briefly looked down into his lap before deciding it'd be best to move his supplies to his bedroom. He collected his sketchbook and writing utensils and moved to his feet. "I'm gonna take this stuff to my room and then… do you wanna do something? Considering we're both awake, I mean."

"Yeah, sure." Armin nodded and shifted into a more comfortable position on the leather couch, his legs stretching out over the cushions.

Jean gave him one last look before slipping out of the living room and into the hallway, but he came to an immediate halt when he passed the bathroom.

'…_I need to dispose of that sketch...'_

Jean peered over his shoulder to ensure he wasn't being watched and flipped the sketchbook open to the picture he'd drawn a little while ago. He inhaled sharply and didn't hesitate to rip it from the binding, folding it in half and tearing it a few times. He tossed the scraps into the bathroom trash bin and suddenly felt a hell of a lot lighter.

The brunet ran his palm over his face as he padded into his bedroom, flipping the light switch by his door. He was just about to tuck his sketchbook into the safety of his desk drawer when a loud yelp echoed out from the den.

"_Holy crap!"_

Jean widened his eyes and, without much thought, he tossed the supplies onto his mattress and dashed from his room. When he entered the den he expected to see something the matter but was instead greeted by Armin, beaming like a ray of sunshine as he stood behind the couch with a rectangular box in his hands.

"Armin, what?"

"Sorry, I just... I found this under the couch." Armin was grinning from ear to ear as he turned the front of the box in his direction. Jean realized he was holding his Monopoly game. "I got excited. I haven't played Monopoly in_ forever_." He leaned on the couch and shook the box a little, as if to make sure all the items were inside.

"Is that your way of saying you want to play?" Jean chuckled and took a few steps towards the smaller boy. "Hell, Armin, you scared me."

"I said I was sorry." He reached over and sat the box on the couch, rubbing his nape sheepishly. "So can we play? If so, I think I should be the banker because I know how much money to distribute and how you're supposed to do it." He nodded to himself and walked round the large couch, squeezing his eyes and pushing at it so it moved backwards and there was enough space granted for he and Jean to sit.

Jean observed him as he moved about. He supposed it didn't really matter if he chose to say no – which he wouldn't, but still - because Armin was already prepared. "Ay, ay, Captain." He snickered as he made his way over to the blonde. "Want me to throw the other pizza into the oven? Connie and I didn't even get to it before Sasha came and kidnapped him."

"Yes please." Armin smiled up at him for a moment before he plopped onto the carpet and grabbed the game box, examining the cover. "Wait... what's _Monopoly Gold_?"

"It's the same, just more pieces to choose from and… most of the stuff is colored gold." Jean shrugged as he walked into the open kitchen, immediately spotting the pizza box on the island counter. "I haven't played it since like.. my freshman year at Bishop, to be honest."

"Bishop?" From his position in the kitchen Jean watched Armin open the box and set up the board on the floor. "That's your high school, yes?" He locked eyes with the brunet for a moment.

"Yep. Eren and Mikasa went there too. But I'm sure you already know that." Jean grabbed a baking pan from under the stove and laid the pizza out on it.

"Yeah, after they moved away." Armin's voice quieted slightly, and Jean noticed it. Perhaps this was a sore topic for him. But damn, now he was kinda curious.

Jean turned the oven on and slid the pizza inside. "I'm curious. How did you guys meet?" He looked back to Armin for a moment to make sure he didn't seem upset, but he was busily organizing the money in the plastic tray.

"You mean how I met Eren and Mikasa?" The blonde smiled a little as he worked, but somehow it seemed forged. "Oh... I was ten years old, I believe. Because of my runty size I'm sure you can guess I was bullied often." He ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "One day after school Eren appeared and fought the guys off." He paused for a moment and pursed his lips. "Well… he tried to. Mikasa was the one they were afraid of, honestly. Afterwards Eren asked me if I was okay and they took me to Dr. Jaeger to get checked out. From that moment on they kind of… stuck by me. I think at first it was just to protect someone weaker than them, but as time progressed a real friendship bloomed and we were inseparable."

Jean blinked, staring at Armin with wide yes. He definitely hadn't been expecting that.

"That's..."

"Sorry, did I ruin the mood?" Armin lifted his eyes to Jean. He seemed truly apologetic then, and it made Jean's heart lurch.

"Oh God, no." Jean blew out a chuckle as he grabbed an oven mit. He pulled the lever and reached inside, pulling out the now heated pizza and setting it on the stove. "I just wasn't expecting it. I thought it'd be something like... I don't know, you saving Eren from fucking with some older kids and getting his ass kicked." He shrugged.

"I've done that too, believe me." Armin giggled. "Eren was pretty hardheaded when we were kids."

"Yeah, that hasn't changed one bit." Jean set the pizza back in the box and brought it into the living room. Armin was leaning on his side with his head propped on his hand, his other arm still working on organizing the money.

"So you guys've been friends since you were kids, huh?" Jean sat cross-legged across from the blonde boy. Armin just nodded with a fond smile painted over his lips.

"Yeah. We did _everything_ together. Joint vacations, holiday dinners, the whole nine." He pushed a stack of money over to Jean. "The Jaegers were a lot more well-off, and they always helped us out when we were in a bind. Eren and Mikasa were like family and Karla and Grisha were like my aunt and uncle."

Jean listened as he spoke. At first he just assumed Armin was some kid with a massively obvious crush on Eren – it'd explain the overly affectionate interactions between them, but now he understood why they clung to each other so much. It was kind of sweet, really. But Jean would never admit that aloud.

"So what did you do when they moved away?" He looked over at the blonde as he reached into the box and grabbed he trash bin piece. He didn't really care which one he played with, so long as he was winning.

Armin sighed softly. "It was hard, honestly. We all started high school together and then in the middle of sophomore year Grisha's job relocated. It was one of the most awful things I had to weather….having a part of me just…taken away, and being completely helpless." The corner of his lip twitched and his voice lowered considerably. "It's happened more than once..." Armin shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath, then opened them again and reached for the iron piece. His smile returned almost instantly. "But I'm happy the three of us are going to uni together. I get to see them all the time."

Jean noticed the slight waver of his actions. He wondered what it meant, but he wouldn't ask. If it had that much of an effect on him it was probably too difficult for him to talk about.

After the chance and community chest cards were shuffled and laid in their respective parts of the board, the game began.

Armin plucked a community chest card and quickly read it, then lifted his eyes to Jean with a small grin. "'Collect fifty dollars from each player.' Sorry Jean." He held his hand out expectantly.

Jean grumbled and leaned over to read the card for himself. "…You little..."

"My money, please." Armin wiggled his fingers a bit, grin quickly shifting into a sweet smile as his other hand moved the iron up a space.

"Oh don't even try and act innocent." The brunet rolled his eyes and grabbed a fifty dollar bill from his money stack and handed it over to him. "You just got lucky, I promise you. I'm gonna kick your ass."

"We'll see." Armin chuckled and accepted the bill, then sat it in its specified pile. The blonde's money was organized into an array of descending worth, starting with the five hundred dollar bills. _'This kid…' _

Jean swallowed and reached for a chance card. As he read it, his features immediately wrought into a frown. '_Go directly to jail.'_ "…Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

Armin leaned over to read the card and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. "Sorry."

'_No you're not. You're reveling in this. I know you are.' _Jean groaned and moved his piece to the other end of the board and sat it in jail. "This is bullshit."

"No need to swear." Armin giggled and reached for a slice of pizza, then drew a chance card from the stack.

Jean had every reason to swear, though. Because as the night progressed, the game only continued to turn in Armin's favor. Fifteen minutes into midnight and Armin had already bought a generous helping of property on the board, whereas Jean was teetering of the edge of bankruptcy. The blonde was royally kicking his ass, and he knew it. Once the game had ended and the pizza was finished, Jean sulked into his room with a thought to never play any sort of game with Armin again.

* * *

_Friday, July 11__th__, 8:20am_

_Diet Mountain Dew, baby New York City. Never was there ever a girl so pretty._

Armin hummed to the music, running his palm over his face as he examined his skin in the magnified mirror that was mounted on the wall. He was prepping for his early morning skin routine, which consisted of a beginning cleanse with this trusty Argon oil, a scrub with his cherry blossom face wash and ending in a spritz of facial toner. On multiple occasions Eren had teased him about being so anal about skincare, but Armin had just suggested that when they were older he'd still have nice, youthful skin while Eren would look like a raisin. And that always got him to shut up.

The blonde grabbed for a bobby pin on the edge of the bathroom sink and pinned his fringe back, reaching over to the closed toilet seat to turn up his iPod speakers but instead he tripped and banged his ankle into the trash bin, knocking it over and effectively spilling the contents onto the tiled floor.

"Damn it!"

Armin crouched down and immediately began pushing the trash back into the bin. Luckily there was no real garbage, only paper towels and miscellaneous wrappers and… wait, what was that?

Armin noticed an abnormally shaped scrap of paper. When he picked it up and examined it he concluded it was a piece of a ripped up drawing. 'But why would someone..?' Curiously, he reached for the other pieces of the paper he found and took a few minutes to piece them together on the floor. It was a little messy, but after a while Armin got the general idea of what was drawn.

Blue eyes grew wide with the realization. It was a portrait of himself… asleep. He recognized it immediately; the crescent moon necklace he was wearing in it was a dead giveaway. 'Jean drew this...' He said to himself, but he couldn't quite believe it. It made a lot of sense though.. how he'd been so obstinate about not letting Armin see what he was doing in his sketchbook. The blonde swallowed thickly and clapped a hand over his mouth, cheeks growing red.

He wondered if he should tell Jean about this. Probably not, considering he'd made such an obvious fuss about getting rid of it. But even still, Armin found himself collecting all the scraps and clasping them together with a bobby pin, tucking them away into his pocket. He'd keep it with him and just not mention it to Jean. Yes. That'd go along okay.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Some new characters are introduced in this chapter, aye. Mikasa in a modern setting… I hope I did it right. I tried to make her a bit more sociable?

Btw I don't really pay much of any mind to anymore, so you can find fics on archive of our own under the same username uwu my fics are more updated there.

* * *

_Saturday, July 12__th__, 5:53pm_

Armin's eyes were fixed on the clock at the top corner of his phone. The more he stared, the more irritated he became. Eren was late. _Horribly late._ He'd told Armin to meet him at Pinkberry at 5:15, but it was already nearing six and Armin had long since finished his frozen yogurt.

'_What could he possibly be doing…?.'_

His gaze shifted to the text he'd sent him a few minutes earlier. _"Where are you?"_ Eren had yet to reply. Half of him thought he'd forgotten, but no. Eren was the one to suggest they have froyo together because apparently he had a surprise for him that needed to be given immediately. But if it was so urgent, why was he taking forever and a day to show up?

Armin was ready to push himself up from the booth and go look around in the bookstore across the street when he heard someone call out to him.

"Ar! Sorry for taking so long!"

_Eren._

The blonde looked over his shoulder. He instantly spotted Eren entering the shop, but he wasn't alone. His eyes widened and a bright smile curved onto his lips at the realization that a familiar raven-haired girl was walking towards the booth alongside him.

"_Mikasa_!" Armin shrieked, forgetting they weren't alone in the shop for a moment as he stood up and sashayed over to them. Mikasa was smiling as well, her dark eyes lit as she outstretched her arms to direct him into a hug. "Armin, it's been too long."

"Two and a half years." Armin said as he embraced her tightly, head nesting in her shoulder. Her scent was nostalgic... it was that familiar aroma of cashmere perfume. Just by inhaling Armin could envision a younger version of himself standing next to Eren in the cosmetic department of Lord & Taylor. He remembered that day all too well; Eren had waited until the last possible second to get Mikasa a gift for her fifteenth birthday. Armin had suggested perfume and they went with it. He didn't expect her to still wear it, but then Mikasa was a bit of a hoarder when it came to things given to her by people she held close.

"You like your surprise then?" Eren was cheesing at them, all teeth and crescent eyelids. Armin turned his head to face him and nodded. He had to chew at his lip to keep his eyes from becoming too glassy. _'God, I cry too much...' _But it wasn't as if he could help it, really. Armin had a tendency to get emotional, and the last time they'd all been together was during the second semester of sophomore year, when Mikasa and Eren were saying their goodbyes. A small pang coursed through the boy at the mere thought of it.

When Mikasa pulled away, she reached down to hold Armin's hand whilst the other lifted to coil a lock of his hair around her slender finger. "Your hair grew. I like it." She marveled with a fond gaze, and Armin just giggled. "Yeah? Eren told me I should cut it."

The brunet boy held his hands up defensively when both heads turned to him. "It's been windy lately. And its summer, you know?" He began walking towards the booth and beckoned for them to follow. "Now can we sit? I've been fiending for some froyo all day."

"I think Armin's hair is perfect as it is." Mikasa mumbled to herself as she fell into step behind Eren. Armin grinned._ 'She certainly hasn't changed…' _He let himself be led back to the booth ad slid in next to Mikasa when they all sat down.

Eren's eyes immediately fell on the empty cup at the opposite end of the table. "You already ate, Armin?"

"You were taking forever to get here." Armin propped his elbows up and folded his fingers, resting his chin on them. He heard Eren whine something about his mother before his phone began to vibrate from the confines of his shorts. If it wasn't a notification from Game Center, it was a text. But he couldn't fathom from whom, considering the only people who'd need to text him anything were right here.

But when he retrieved his phone and read the message, he found himself smiling.

**[ SMS from: Jean ] **u want Chinese before karaoke night? I can promise the food at the bar will be shit.

"…Jean Kirschtein?" Mikasa leaned in to get a better view of his phone, her eyebrow rising in faint amusement. "Why's Jean texting you?"

Eren snorted. "Still not sure why, but Armin decided to room with him." His eyes squinted together to get a better view of the menu at the far-end of the shop.

"You haven't been here a month and you already found a roommate." Mikasa hummed as she began toying with the garnet birthstone on her middle finger. "And I'm sort of surprised it's Jean."

Armin rested his chin on his hand and typed a quick "no thank you" in response to the message, then returned his gaze to the raven next to him. "What's wrong with Jean?" He'd admit sometimes Eren could be a bit irrational, but if even Mikasa was showing aversion something had to be the matter.

"Nothing in particular, just…" Mikasa lifted her eyes to look at him. "He doesn't seem like the kind of person you'd get along with, is all." Her arm extended to tuck a stray lock of his hair behind his ear, face turning contemplative. "…He has nice eyebrows though..."

Armin sputtered a laugh at her words. "What do his eyebrows have to do with anything?"

"They look like he gets them done regularly, the fag." Eren muttered to himself, eyes still fixed on the menu, before turning to Mikasa a moment later. "If we're done discussing Jean Kirschtein, I'm going to go order the froyo now. Your usual, yeah?"

Mikasa nodded and Eren stood, making his way over to the counter. Armin rested his palms flat on the table and stretched his arms out.

"So, what's new with you, Mikasa?"

"Mm.." The raven pursed her lips. "I found my uncle again." She reached her hands over to Armin's hair, and he could very clearly feel her French tips as she began to gently work and pull through the tresses. Armin wouldn't ask her what she was doing; it felt nice and he knew she wouldn't do anything that he'd be ashamed to wear in public. He was so lost in the soothing feel of her fingers that he hadn't realized the weight of what she'd said until he thought about it again.

"What? Your uncle?" He looked up at her, but was careful not to move too much. Mikasa had that determined look on her face as she continued to knead the locks together. "When I moved to Trost I decided to try and track down my biological family. I got lucky."

"That's great!" Armin chimed, "So what's he like?"

"Uncle Kenny's great." Mikasa reached into her satchel and dug around for a moment before pulling out a flowery hair barrette. "His son, though—"

"Levi?"

Both Armin and Mikasa's attention turned at the voice. Eren was grinning as he settled back into his seat with two cups of froyo and spoons in his possession. "Levi's fuckin' amazing." He pushed one of the cups across the table towards his sister. "Why are you cornrowing his hair?"

"It's a French braid, Eren." Mikasa 'tsk'd' under her breath and resumed her work. "He has a very odd infatuation with my cousin and I don't understand why. The guy's about as tall as my knee." Mikasa clasped the accessory into Armin's hair, then petted his shoulder to signify that she was done.

Armin moved to sit upright and reached up to feel the braid, giggling. "He can't be that short."

"He's not. She's just exaggerating." Eren spooned a bit of the frozen treat into his mouth and rolled his eyes. "He's a filthy rich entrepreneur. He owns nightclubs."

"_Strip clubs_." Mikasa held up her finger to correct him. "How dignified is that?"

"If he's making money, does it matter?" Eren continued to eat, only to hiss when the froyo touched against his front teeth. Armin chuckled and grabbed his phone to examine the braid in the frontal view of his camera. _It was gorgeous_. Mikasa had curved the braid along the left side of his head and put the daisy barrette in the very front. "How do I look?" He asked aloud.

"Beautiful." Eren grinned. "You should make an Instagram and take a pic."

Mikasa rested her chin on her fist and raised both her eyebrows, idly twirling her spoon around in her cup. "..You don't have an Instagram?"

"I never saw the point in making one." Armin found himself pouting as he sat his phone down. "All you do is post pictures. I don't really need—"

"I plan to for us to take lots of selfies." Mikasa said, a bit of finality in her tone. She took a spoonful of her froyo and plucked his phone from his grasp, then slid it across the table to Eren. "Eren, make an account for him."

"Roger." Eren heeded his sister's request and immediately began punching away at the phone. "Having an insta will come in handy, you know. Especially tonight. I'm looking forward to recording everyone making assess of themselves at the karaoke bar." The brunet boy smirked and glanced up at Armin with a tilt of his head. "I'm making your username 'Arlert alert', okay?"

Armin outright laughed at the suggestion but waved his hands anyway. "That's.. – Sure, Eren. Go ahead." _'That's stupid as hell, but I probably wouldn't be able to think of anything better.' _He kicked his legs up to prop on the seat across from him, resting his feet next to Eren's thighs.

"It's not as bad as Rogueprince." Mikasa kept her eyes on Eren and took in the remainder of her yogurt, then licked at the end of the spoon.

"That's been my username for years and I don't intend on changing it." Eren jutted out his lower lip, then tilted his head and pulled Armin's phone back at arm's length to take a quick selfie. "I hope you don't mind your first post being a picture of your hot best friend."

"Why would I?" Armin grinned and reached across the table to snag his friend's froyo. "I'm gonna take the liberty of finishing this." Without waiting for a response he began digging in, groaning in pleasure as soon as the hazelnut reached his taste buds. "Mm, is that Nutella?"

"Vanilla drizzled with Nutella, yeah." Eren chuckled as he turned his head back down, typing up a captain to the picture he'd just taken.

"What's Armin's username? I wanna follow him." Mikasa grabbed a sleek Samsung from her satchel and tapped it to life.

"Arlert-underscore-alert."

"That's _so_ embarrassing." Armin spooned as much Nutella as he could and lifted it pop between his lips, his eyes growing wide with a sudden thought. "Wait – Eren." He reached over the table and snatched his phone back. "I have an even better username in mind." He looked down at his phone, immediately laughing when he saw that his first post was indeed a picture of Eren, with the caption _"everyone get a load of my hot bestie rogueprince"._

"Even better than _Arlert Alert_?" Eren gasped and placed a palm on the chest of his polo-shirt, feigning shock. "I bet money it's going to be something nerdy and astronomy-related." He sniggered and reached over to take his frozen yogurt back.

Armin just kept quiet because Eren was right. He opened up the panel to edit his profile and typed his new name in, then pressed "save". "Lunarmin." The blonde said, clearly pleased with himself for coming up with something so clever. Well..._he_ thought it was clever, at least. "You know, like Lunar Armin. Moon references." He touched his fingers to the silver crescent pendant he was wearing for emphasis, which evoked another laugh from Eren.

"You're such a dork Ar." Eren got up from his side of the booth and paced over, offering a look of slight apology as he squeezed onto the bench that was clearly only meant for two people. Armin squeaked.

"Eren, you're hurting my legs! What are you doing?"

"Let's all take a selfie together." The brunet pouted.

"We could have done this standing up or later-"

"No." Mikasa interjected, holding her hand up to grab both boys' attention. "I'm with Eren. Let's take one." She pulled up the camera app on her phone. "Samsungs have better-quality cameras." As per usual, her statement wasn't up for argument as she handed Armin the phone.

After a moment the blonde nodded and shifted so he was sitting on Eren's thigh, wiggling to get comfortable. "Am I hurting you, Eren?" When the brunet shook his head he smiled, wrapping his arm around Mikasa's shoulder and using the other to hold the phone out in front of them. Mikasa leaned in and puffed her cheeks, mashing her face flush against Armin whilst Eren opted to press a lingering kiss against his cheek.

"Ready?" Armin was beaming as pressed the button to start the timer.

"3… 2…1 …CHEESE!"

* * *

_Saturday, July 12__th__, 8:21pm_

"Took you guys long enough!"

Armin had to take a step back as not to be bombarded by the brunet girl that was practically running towards them, throwing her arms around Mikasa with a small squeak. Mikasa just petted her back and mumbled something that was impossible to be heard over the music that was coming from inside the room.

"Sash, let her breathe." Eren chuckled and Armin felt him grip his wrist and gently tug him inside the room, kicking the door shut behind him. The room was pretty spacious; there was, of course, a karaoke machine against the left wall with a flat-screen TV mounted above it. An L-shaped couch was a few feet away from it, with pillows placed gracelessly along the cushions. High tables and stools lined the wall directly across from the entrance, and on the right side there was a door that Armin presumed let to the main room of the bar.

"You guys come here a lot?" Armin asked his friend as he was led to the couch where Jean and Connie were perched, huddled over and watching something on Connie's iPad.

Eren nodded and pulled them both down to sit. "It's sorta like a tradition. The owner knows us. Hey." Eren threw his arm out to snap his fingers in front of their faces to grab their attention.

"We can hear you, Jaeger." Jean said, tilting his head up with a slightly irritated expression. "Just choosing to ignore you."

Connie, on the other hand, was practically cheesing as he reached out to clap a hand onto Eren's shoulder. "_Thank God_ you're here, man. I wanna get hold of the machine before the girls hog it all night, like last time." His eyes fell on Armin expectantly. "You're doing the group song with us, right Armin?"

Armin shrugged, having to swallow the bashfulness that was daring to swell up in his chest. "I suppose, yes." He smiled and folded his hands in his lap. "But… we're not going first, are we?"

"No, the first person to arrive gets first dibs. It's tradition." Jean said without missing a bit. He handed the tablet back to his friend and scooted over to sit next to Armin, a lopsided grin on his lips. "Cute braid." He poked the tip of his finger against his hair. Armin chuckled. "Thanks."

"Where's Annie?"

The boys all looked up to see Mikasa starting down at them, her fingers toying with the fringed hem of her scarf.

Eren snickered and muttered something incoherent, and even though Armin was sure Mikasa hadn't heard it he still earned himself a tight squeeze to his shoulder.

"She's getting herself a drink at the bar." Sasha replied from a little ways over, untangling the microphone cords whilst her other hand used the remote to scroll through a list of songs that were displayed up on the TV. "Connie," She turned her head towards her boyfriend, who was already standing at attention.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Let's do a duet."

Connie grinned. "You got it." He sent his friends a small salute before jogging over to join Sasha behind the machine.

"So much for us all being in this together." Eren tsk'ed.

Armin blinked as he sunk back into the plush leather, watching Mikasa take Connie's seat between Eren and Jean. He let a moment of silence pass before he finally decided to ask, "Who's Annie?"

Both Eren and Jean smirked at the question, while Mikasa began fiddling with her scarf again. "Mikasa's girlfriend." Jean lifted off the couch a bit to pull his phone out of his back pocket.

"Wait,_ really_?" Armin's eyes were blown wide. He'd always been aware that Mikasa liked girls, but he had no idea she was _dating someone_. Why hadn't she mentioned it before?

"She's not her girlfriend, Jean." Eren corrected, his smirk growing broad.

"Oh right, sorry. They're _friends with benefits_."

Mikasa tugged her scarf up over the bottom half of her face, something she'd always done when she was at a loss for words. "You two.." Her voice was muffled by the fabric filmed over her mouth but Armin could hear the warning in her tone.

The blonde looked up and over when a familiar tune rang in his ears. He immediately smiled when he recognized "You're The One That I Want" from Grease – one of his all-time favorite movies. Armin sat back on the couch and began tapping his finger against his thigh, mouthing along whilst Connie spewed out the beginning of the first verse.

"Are we waiting on anyone else?" Jean leaned back as well and began tapping away at his phone, not paying the slightest ounce of attention as his friends put on a _damn interesting_ show in front of him.

"No, I don't think so." Eren whispered, green eyes busily following Connie and Sasha as they moved about and tried to emulate the real Danny and Sandy's dance moves.

"Are Reiner and Bertl gonna show?"

"I wouldn't count on it." Eren took out his phone as well and held it up to record the performance. "Lord knows what they're doing together on a Saturday night. – Now shut up."

Jean hissed at him and but Armin was thankful for it. He returned his attention to Connie and Sasha and his smile only widened. They were so into it, which was pretty cute.

"_You're the one that I want, you are the one that I want. Oo, oo, oo, honey!" _

It kind of made him want to sing with someone.

Out of the peripheral of his vison, Armin saw a hand land on Mikasa's shoulder, and a rather petite body squeeze between the raven and Jean. He reluctantly tore his gaze away from Connie and Sasha to get a better look at this new girl. Armin definitely wouldn't put her over five feet tall. She was blonde, and had big, drowsy blue eyes that currently looked extremely jaded. In her hand was a wide-mouthed martini glass with some kind of neon-colored liquid inside.

"Armin, _this_ is Mikasa's... special friend." Eren gestured a hand towards the girl and kept his voice as low as he could. "Annie, this is Armin."

The girl sat between Mikasa and Jean and crossed her legs, her head tilting in acknowledgment. "Hi."

Instinctively, Armin smiled and waved with his fingers. "Hi, Annie." He chimed, but resisted the urge to hold out his hand because she didn't look like she'd shake it. She looked bored, or like she didn't even want to be here. But when Mikasa tugged her scarf down and tilted her head towards her, the fondness in both their eyes was clearly evident.

"I'm singing next." Jean declared as he dropped his phone into his lap. Armin didn't have to lean over much to see Candy Crush Saga open on the screen.

"I don't wanna do the group thing until I get a few drinks in me." Eren's eyes were still locked on their friends. "And all your talking is messing with the recording, _so can it_."

"I wasn't even the only one talking, you biased fuck." Jean shot back, his arms folding over his chest. "We don't have to do that. But it's boring sitting here. I wanna sing."

Admittedly, Armin was having the same urge. But since he was feeling too timid he just kept quiet and looked back to the focal point of the room. The performance was tied with Sasha spinning Connie into her arms just as the song ended, and everyone cheered their approval.

"Watching karaoke when I'm sober is actually a lot more pleasant." Eren grinned as he shut off the recording and began typing something into his phone. "I got most of it, but I'll have to trim the bits where Jean was running his fuckin' mouth."

"Oh shut up, Jaeger." Jean snorted and rose up from his seat, high-fiving Connie on his way over to the karaoke machine. He picked up the microphone and tapped it a few times. "Hello friends. Jean Kirschtein here to lull you all into oblivion with my radical chords."

Sasha made a 'pfft' sound with her lips and plopped down onto the couch. "Jean, you're so embarrassing. Please." Laughing, she dug her hand into the leather hobo bag at her feet and tugged out a half-eaten Snickers bar.

Armin hadn't realized he'd been laughing along until he heard a small gasp. "Oi, Armin!" Jean's hazel eyes narrowed at him, but the anger was obviously feigned. "You laughin' at me?"

"I'm sorry." The boy giggled and, acting on a whim and a sudden thought, he popped up from his seat and strutted over to him. "….Let me sing with you." He said quietly, and Jean just blinked, his eyes growing wide.

"Uh… sure, okay." Jean nodded after a moment, still looking pretty shocked. But it was definitely a pleasant kind of shock., Armin could tell. "What, you mean like a duet?"

"Isn't that what it's called when two people sing together?" Armin laughed and bit softly on his tongue, trying hard not to blush out of pure embarrassment. He grabbed the other microphone and switched it on. "I'm soprano, you needn't worry."

"This should be good." Eren had a rather devious smirk etched onto his lips as he stared at them. "Jean, don't cry when Armin outshines your shit singing. - On second thought, I won't hold it against you. I'll record it and put it on Instagram."

"Shut _up_, Jaeger. I always sing lead in the group for a reason." He growled at him, but when he turned to Armin his expression noticeably softened. "You can choose the song."

Armin nodded with a small chuckle and grabbed the remote. He found his way to the main directory of songs and pressed "duets", senses instantly perked by the extensive list of songs from the High School Musical movies. Being the fanatic he was, Armin couldn't fade his excitement.

"High School Musical? Really?" The taller boy moved to stand next to him.

"Why not? Don't tell me you've never seen them."

"No I have but…" Jean rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "God, my little sister made me watch HSM with her so much. The songs are kind of engraved in my mind." He chuckled and took the remote from Armin's hand and scrolled to the bottom, immediately highlighting "Just Wanna Be With You".

"If we're gonna do this, it's gotta be this song. It's my favorite."

"Deal." Armin smiled up at him and sunk his teeth into his lower lip, then turned to face their audience. Usually he'd be nervous, but somehow being in the presence of his new friends comforted him. He tapped the microphone a few times to test the volume and cued Jean to start the song.

He heard a small snicker from the crowd and zeroed his eyes on Eren. Jean stuck up his middle finger then closed his eyes as he took a step closer to Armin.

"_I got a lot of things I have to do. All these distractions, our future's coming soon." _

Armin couldn't help the toothy smile that claimed his lips when he heard Jean's singing. It wasn't amazing, no, but it certainly wasn't the embarrassment he was sort of expecting. He held his mic with both hands and prepared for the harmony.

"_We're being pulled a hundred different directions, but whatever happens, I know I've got you."_

Jean opened his eyes and grinned at the blonde, swaying a bit.

"_You're on my mind, you're in my heart. It doesn't matter where we are. We'll be alright even if we're miles apart."_

Armin dared to reach for his hand, and his face grew hot when the advance was met with warmth enveloping his palm. The harmony flowed between them so effortlessly, it was glorious.

"_All I wanna do is be with you, be with you. There's nothing we can't do. Just wanna be with you, only you. No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart. I just wanna be with you." _

At the end of the chorus, Armin broke his gaze from Jean and looked to his friends. They were all bobbing their heads, and Sasha was quietly singing along. _Even Eren looked amused._

He felt himself being tugged backwards and his eyes moved back to Jean. He smiled again when he noticed his head moving from side to side and his fingers slid through his own.

"_You know how life can be, it changes overnight."_

Armin followed his steps, letting him lead their movements.

"_It's sunny then raining, but it's alright. _

_A friend like you always makes it easy. I know that you get me every time." _

When Jean let go of his hand and spun, he nearly knocked into the speakers, but he caught himself at the last second. Armin found himself laughing into the verse.

"_Through every up, through every down, you know I'll always be around. Through anything you can count on me." _

Armin decided to get a little bold. When the chorus hit, he squeezed passed the karaoke machine and twirled in the direction of the couch, Jean catching on and following right after him.

"_All I wanna do is be with you, be with you."_

Jean caught up to him and gripped his hand again, bringing him close.

"_There's nothing we can't do. Just wanna be with you, only you._

_No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart._

_You know it's true._

_I just wanna be with you."_

And then the song wound down. Armin was yanked flush against Jean's chest and he looked up at him, both boys filled with mirth as the last lyric was shared in a breath.

"_I just wanna be with you."_


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: You can find me on archive of our own under the same username. I'm more active there and I prioritize updating there over here. But ofc I'll still be updating. Just a note.

* * *

_Sunday, July 13__th__, 8:43am_

Jean gulped much-needed air as he plopped down on the bench just outside of the rec center. He suddenly regretted all the drinks he'd taken at the bar the night before; if he'd woken up at dawn he could have went for his jog before the sun was up, and he wouldn't be feeling so incredibly lousy._ 'Ugh.' _He wiped a hand over his temple and took a swig from his water bottle.

It was _too fuckin' hot. _

Why had he drunk so much, anyway? Jean usually wasn't a heavy drinker, but he supposed being surrounded by his friends had spurred him on. As an afterthought he decided to grab his phone and check his photos for anything embarrassing.

As he scrolled, he found nothing. Thankfully. Just videos of he and his friends singing, drunken selfies and – _oh._ Jean felt a slight tug at the corner of his lips as he eyed the picture he'd stumbled upon. He didn't even remember taking it. It was a picture of he and Armin. Jean was holding a beer while Armin had some sort of fruity-slush concoction in his hand.

Jean spent an embarrassingly long time staring at the photo. The smile on Armin's face was… intoxicating, for lack of a better word. He was positive the boy had been fairly tipsy when the photo was taken, though. The way Armin so comfortably leaned into him was a dead giveaway. But even still, he'd cherish it. -…in a completely no-homo sort of way.

Jean was unaware of the dumb smile on his face as he tucked his phone away and rose from the bench, trekking towards his car. He unlocked the doors with a click and climbed inside. It still smelled somewhat new, and the scent brought him back to earlier in the year when his parents had gifted it to him as duel birthday-graduation present. Connie and Sasha had spent an eternity teasing him for driving around in a convertible like some pampered rich kid, but Jean ignored it. At the end of the day he was the only one out of his friends with a car and they never complained when he offered to drive them around.

After starting the engine, Jean decided to take a gamble and see what was playing on the radio. He grimaced when the first thing he heard was that insufferably obnoxious voice of Iggy Azalea, chanting some nonsense about being sixteen without any money or family, or whatever.

He changed to the alternative station, which was a lot more bearable. They were playing some QUOTSA song Jean could deal with that. As he pulled out of the lot, he found himself idly wondering what kind of music Armin listened to..

_Sunday, July 13__th__, 9:14am_

Jean was greeted by the smell of breakfast immediately upon entry into the apartment. He closed his eyes, kicking the door shut and locking it. "Sash, you cooking?" He called out in the direction of the kitchen, expecting to see her posted in front of the stove. But no one was there. There were a few plates covered in tinfoil on the counter. Curiously, he walked across the small foyer towards the kitchen, uncurling one of the wraps and peeking beneath it. Scrambled eggs. That was odd. Sasha never cooked and left right after.

He looked towards the sink. All the dishes were washed and neatly laid out on the drying rack. Okay, now he was positive Sasha hadn't made this. But despite his curiosity, he reached up into the cupboard and grabbed a Styrofoam plate, loading it with a large helping of eggs, and sausage and potatoes from the other plates. Jean had taken a Nantucket Nectar from the fridge and was walking towards his room when a voice grabbed his attention.

"Jean?"

Jean stopped in his tracks and turned to the room adjacent to where he stood. Through the crack in the door he could see Armin sitting cross-legged on his bed with his laptop balanced on his thighs.

He nudged the door open with the toe of his sneaker and stepped inside. "Hey, good morning Armin."

"Good morning." Armin smiled up at him. The boy was dressed in a long-sleeved pajama set, and that golden mane of his was tied up into a bun in the middle of his head. Jean silently wondered why he was dressed so heavily when it was hot enough to melt metal outside.

"You're eating the breakfast I prepared." He rested his hands on the top of his laptop and bent it towards him.

"Oh, you made this? It's okay for me to eat some, right?" Jean blinked and took a few more steps inside the room, only then realizing this was actually the first time he'd been in there. The room had a cozy feel to it; the walls were covered in posters of every kind (art, anime, video games and of course the astronomical ones which seemed to be in the majority). There were candles on nearly every surface too, and the headboard of his bed was tightly strung with lavender-colored fairy lights.

"It's totally okay!" Armin nodded and sat his laptop beside him, his arms resting on his legs. "I had nothing to do when I was up this morning so I just decided to cook a whole bunch. I think I got carried away.." He laughed softly.

'_This boy is really..'_ Jean laughed along with him. He inched towards his bed with a slightly shy expression. "Do you mind if I eat in here?"

"Of course not." Armin was grinning as he got up from his bed and crouched down. "One second." He reached under the bed and pulled out a wooden tray with legs folded underneath it, then stood up to hand it to him. Jean smiled gratefully and set up the tray on his bed.

"So… I'm assuming you just came from the gym." Armin eyed his attire and returned to his position on the bed. Jean placed his food on the tray and unscrewed the cap on his juice. He felt an urge to lie and say yes, and he didn't really know why, but he wanted to impress Armin. Simply jogging every morning wasn't really all that awe-worthy. "Uh, yeah… yeah I've been there since early this morning." Jean flexed his bicep for emphasis, glad the muscles were still pretty prominent from running track and playing lacrosse all throughout high school.

Armin reached out to touch his fingers to his bicep and made a small "oo"ing noise. "Impressive." The blonde sat back against his headboard and brought his computer towards him. Jean could hear the sound of a game, and when he peeked over he spied the interface of some sort of RPG.

"What are you playing?"

"Perfect World." Armin was typing for a moment before shifting his eyes back towards him. "It's like... the Chinese version of Word of Warcraft."

That certainly peaked his interest. He pushed some potatoes between his lips and slowly chewed. "Oh yeah? Does it cost money?"

"No. Which is why it's better in my opinion." Armin pointed his finger to the poster next to his bookshelf. It was a CG animation of a woman – Jean presumed her to be a mythical creature of some sort – clad in regal looking armor with hair that reached her calf. In some kind of futuristic font, it read "Perfect World International" in the top-left corner. "And the characters are certainly better looking in this game." Armin grinned.

Jean toed off his running shoes, kicking them to the floor and shifting so he sat next to Armin against the headboard. Their shoulders touched and usually he'd bark at someone that they were too close, but for a reason inexplicable to him, Jean was enjoying the proximity. Armin smelled nice.

"…_Way to be a creep, Jean.' _

He bit into a sausage link as he glanced at the screen, instantly taken by the extraordinary graphics and scenery. From what he could see in the character panel, Armin was playing a level-57 elf named "Neptunis". "You're pretty far in this game." He leaned over a little to get a better view.

"I've been playing it since the first expansion. This is like… my tenth character." Armin's eyes were shinning as he spoke, and he seemed pretty enthusiastic. "My first character is on like, level ninety or something."

"Damn." Jean's eyes widened for a moment, finishing off the link and picking up another one as he unintentionally shifted closer to the blonde. "So… what, do you just go on quests and shit?" He looked towards the compass in the corner of the screen. Armin was in some place called "Tellus City".

"Yep. But since I kind of got stuck on a really huge quest I'm just wandering around and doing minor stuff for NPCs." Armin chuckled and stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankle. Either he was unaware of how close they were or he didn't mind. Jean honestly hoped for the latter.

"So um, do you think this game would run on a Mac?"

"I'm sure it would." Armin looked up at him. There wasn't much space between their faces, and usually Jean would be a blushing mess, but this was Armin. His _roommate_. His totally adorable and kind of fun roommate that he wasn't at all considering pursuing once they got to know each other better. No, of course he wasn't.

But his stomach dropped when his thoughts drifted to something he'd rather not remember. That day, at the beginning of June. That day… how had he forgotten?

"_You'll wait for me, right, Jean?"_

Jean sat his fork down and rested his palm against his forehead, the heel of it digging into his eye. That sweet voice... those words... they echoed in his mind over and over until he found himself keening. Armin clearly noticed his distress because he placed a hand on his arm.

"…Jean? Are you alright?"

Jean let a few moments pass before he dropped his hand and sat upright again, sending Armin a reassuring smile – though he wasn't sure if it was very convincing. "I'm fine." He cleared his throat and took a swig of his drink. "I 'm just… still pretty hungover, I guess."

Armin's eyebrows were furrowed, and Jean could tell he was having trouble believing that was really all it was. But he didn't press any further, just gently petted Jean's back and offered a gentle smile. "Go rest then. If you want I can get the game set up on your computer and it'll be ready by the time you wake up. It takes like... at least an hour to update and junk anyway."

Jean exhaled at his words and looked down at his food. He didn't really want to sleep, but Armin was right - a nap would do him good. His palm landed on the blonde's shoulder and he reciprocated the smile. "Thanks Armin. I'll only be out for like an hour or two." He moved the tray from his lap and grabbed his food with both hands as he stood.

"Pfft, there's no rush." Armin laughed, giving him one last look before turning back to his laptop. "Rest well, okay?"

_Wednesday, July 16__th__, 7:10pm_

Armin sat on his hands and leaned forward to get a better view of Connie's iPad screen. He'd been summoned from his reading to assist in booking a hotel for Sasha's birthday party, and Armin had to bite his tongue to keep from mentioning how _last minute_ this all was. But granted, about a month ago the idea of a group weekend in Beachville (the clever dub for the tourist area surrounding Trost's most famous beach) _had been_ thrown around, but nothing was set in stone until they were actually certain who was going. And considering the original members of the clique had taken such a liking to having Armin around, he was practically _forced_ into accepting the offer to go.

Not that Armin needed to be forced, though. Being raised in a mountain town meant never going anywhere remotely near water. The closest he'd gotten to a beach was seeing it on television, or in the stories his mother used to tell him of the ocean-side town she grew up in. But of course there was always that fascination – he was a water sign, after all - and what better way to experience something like this than with his new-found group of friends?

"So," Armin gaze followed the direction of Connie's finger, which was pointing to the gallery of images set for each room-type. "I'm thinking three rooms. Two single rooms for the couples, and one double bedroom for you, Jean and Eren. That's cool, right?"

Armin extended out his own arm and began swiping through the photos of said double bedroom. "So I presume Eren and I will be sharing a bed." He blinked over to his roommate, who was grinning.

"I didn't think that'd be a problem."

Armin had to cringe at the obvious insinuation made. "Oh, _God_, Connie! Eren's my brother!" He scrunched his nose and gently shoved his arm, causing the shorter male to laugh. "Then it won't be a problem if you two share a bed, will it?"

"Once we get some alcohol in our systems I doubt we'll be staying in our assigned rooms, anyway." Came a playful remark from Sasha, who was mixing up something in the kitchen. Armin decided to rise up and travel the small distance to stand next to her, peeking into the plastic bowl.

It looked a bit like guacamole. "I didn't see any tortilla chips in the cupboard." He rested his hand on his hip when the auburn-haired girl turned to smile at him.

"I'm making a face mask." She took the wooden spoon she was mixing with and held it up to reveal a creamy green substance. "Avocado and honey."

"And she decided to use our stuff to make it." Connie snorted from the den as he continued to tap away at his iPad.

"You _know _my sister's allergic to avocado. It couldn't be helped." Sasha stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend, and then turned his eyes on Armin as she held the spoon near his cheek. "This does wonders for blackheads and I see one riiiiight..." She tapped the end of the spoon to his cheekbone, dabbing a dime-sized glob of the mask onto his skin. "There."

Armin smiled as he eyed himself in the door of the microwave. "When do I wash it off?"

"Twenty minutes."

Sasha was sitting the bowl down on the countertop when the apartment door pushed open and in walked Jean, a bag of Subway in his hand and an unfamiliar blond girl under his arm.

"Look who I found while I was out!" He shouted into the den with a grin.

Apparently the girl was only a stranger to Armin because Connie and Sasha let out identical shrieks, both dropping what they were doing to flee over to her.

"_Krista_!" Connie's exclamation resounded throughout the room. The girl weaseled her way out of Jean's grasp and smiled up at them both, her arms outspread. "Surprise!"

Armin took a step closer and silently watched as Krista took turns embracing them. She was really small, he observed; even shorter than Connie and seemed to be shorter than Annie as well. Armin found himself unconsciously studying her when his eyes fell on the rubber keychain that was attached to the strap of her handbag. It was a bubbled letter T outlined in white and green; the same logo that was printed on the welcome mat outside of the apartment. Trost University's logo.

"What are you even doing here?!" Sasha asked, the excitement in her tone never faltering as she rested her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders and swayed them both from side to side.

"I brought her, remember?" Jean held up his hand and jeered playfully at his friend, who just hissed her response. Krista blew out a small laugh. "I've been looking for a place to stay." She reached up to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I'm starting at Trost U in September."

"Really?!" Connie and Sasha both seemed pretty stunned by her words. Krista just nodded and turned her gaze to Armin, who immediately formed a warm smile to mask the faint anxiety fluttering around inside his chest as she took a few steps towards him.

"Oh shit, sorry!" Connie scampered up to stand next to Armin and threw an arm around his shoulder, gesturing to the blond boy as he spoke between them. "Armin, this is Krista. She went to high school with us. Krista, Armiin's me and Jean's roommate."

Krista lifted a dainty hand to wave at him. "Nice to meet you, Armin." She looked momentarily contemplative before reaching out her arm to point at his face. "…You have a little something…"

"Oh, oh... "Armin chuckled sheepishly. "That's a face mask. – Nice to meet you as well, Krista." He suddenly felt an urge to wipe it off, but he knew he'd rather deal with guacamole on his face than a blackhead any day. The more he looked, the harder it became for Armin to believe Krista was their age. At the very least the girl looked like a high school sophomore. But then, Armin probably wasn't one to talk. People _never _believed him when he told them his age, and he wasn't even seventeen yet.

"An avocado mask, courtesy of Sasha Braus." Sasha giggled as she took the liberty of digging into Jean's Subway bag, pulling out the first sub she could get her hands on. "So, Krista, what's your schedule looking like for next weekend?" She peeled back the paper wrapping to eye the sandwich, smiling appreciatively when she realized it was her own.

'Well..." Krista tilted her head to the side, causing a bit of her hair to tumble back from behind her ear. "I don't have anything serious planned. Just outings with my parents and—"

"So you're coming to Sasha's eighteenth." Jean chimed in as his own hand dropped into the bag and retrieved a six-inch sub. "I believe this is yours, Armin." He held the sandwich out to the blonde. Armin had to sink his teeth into his inner cheek for noticing how chastely their fingers brushed when he accepted it, and had to bite even harder to reprimand himself for letting his eyes follow the prominent vein on Jean's wrist up his forearm. _Christ Almighty_, the man had some fine veins. Armin wouldn't deny that. He remembered watching his hands work over his keyboard when they played Perfect World together, remembered being fascinated by how long and slender – and borderline effeminate – his fingers were.

"Of course I'm going!" Krista chirped as he reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. "Where and when?"

"Next weekend in Beachville." Sasha guided the group towards the couch and they all sat, Armin between Jean and Connie. The remaining contents of the bag were dumped out onto the coffee table and Armin sat back to begin peeling away at the wrapping on his sandwich. He idly listened to them discuss the details, and a feeling he really _did not_ want to be feeling began to creep in. Exclusion. He knew it wasn't intentional, and he also knew it was probably his own fault. Armin could easily just add something to the conversation but he felt a bit… uneasy about it. They'd all went to high school together. They probably had a myriad of inside jokes that he'd never understand. And besides that, they all hailed from this glamorous, upper middle-class world… and what did he have to offer? Armin's home life wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Just thinking about it made the boy's chest clench a bit.

"Yo!"

Armin blinked as he was forcibly pulled from his thoughts by Connie, whose face was only a few inches from his own. "You alright there, Buddy?"

Armin was startled by the closeness and by a kneejerk reaction he launched himself back, only to land against a broad chest. "Armin, shit," He heard Jean chuckle as large hands moved to rest on his shoulders. "You were staring at your sandwich for like a whole minute there."

The blonde was blinking rapidly now, glancing around at all of them as he emitted a nervous laugh. "S-sorry..." He hadn't realized he was so obviously detached.

"…Everything _is_ okay, right?" Krista leaned over Connie, her hand landing on the knee of Armin's legging. Sasha was staring at him too, her mouth full of something that resembled steak and cheese. Armin wasn't entirely sure, nor did he really want to be. "Dude, we know you're into astronomy but you can't space on us like that." Even with a full mouth Armin could note the warm smile on her lips. He felt himself dawn a smile of his own.

He looked up and over when he felt the hand on his shoulder shift, and suddenly Jean's arm was around him completely. "We need your vote on what movie to watch on Netflix." He nudged his attention towards the television screen.

Armin could only feel his smile grow. His feelings of inadequacy would never vanish completely, but they certainly lessened. It felt nice that his friends – friends he hadn't even known for that long – would so openly worry about him and try to include him in something that was foreign. Even _Krista _had seemed concerned. It was comforting, really, even with the constant reminder that he'd never truly be one of them. But.. perhaps that wasn't as big of a deal as he was making it out to be.


	5. Chapter 5

Note: if you want quicker/more consistent updates please read this fic on archive of our own, under the username areumin.

* * *

_Friday, July 25__th__, 9:29am_

Jean stood in the den on Friday morning, a navy blue duffle bag on his shoulder. It was the day they were meant to leave for the trip and Jean was _more_ than ready: his surfboard was leaning on the side of the couch as he waited for Armin to join him so they could head out and meet Connie downstairs. Sasha had gotten her dad's truck for the trip, _thank God_, because squeezing eight people into two sedans would hardly be ideal. He was _not_ about to have Eren on his lap again.

If Jean had a bitter taste in his mouth from the thought it would have been washed out just then, when his blond roommate poked out from the hallway. He was dressed in a fitted v-neck, cut-off shorts and a pair of worn grey Tom's. The moon pendant he seemed to never take off dangled from his neck, of course, and there was a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"You ready?" Jean asked with a tilt of his head, trying not to seem like he'd been staring too much.

Armin was smiling as he strode towards him. His blue eyes seemed to widen when he spotted the surfboard leant on the couch. "..I thought that thing only hung in your room for decoration…" Armin's captivation by the board was clear. Jean would use this opening to try and impress him, of course.

"Nope." Jean replied proudly, leaning on the board and resting his hand on the hip of his swim trunks. "I've been surfing for years. I'm really good, too." That wasn't a lie. Jean _had_ been surfing since he was fifteen, and he was pretty damned good, he thought.

Armin pressed his lips together and tilted his head up to the taller boy. "Yeah?" His eyes were practically _sparkling_ as he gingerly dragged his fingertip along one of the board's stripes. "Can I... see you surf while we're down there?"

"Yeah, sure." Jean swallowed thickly and mentally cursed when he felt a dash of pink dust over his nose. He didn't even understand _why_ he was so fucking embarrassed by a question as simple as that. _'Damn it.'_ As coolly as possible, Jean covered over his nose and tucked his board under his arm, walking towards the front door. "We should get going. Connie and Sasha are waiting on us."

Armin nodded and followed him, pulling the door open and holding it for Jean to walk out. Together they boarded the elevator at the end of the hallway and descended to the lobby, where Connie and Sasha were indeed waiting by the main exit.

"Morning!" Sasha chimed**.** She was dressed in a crotchet beach cover and flip-flops. Connie had even _less_ modesty. The boy was shirtless beneath his open vest.

"Morning guys." Armin adjusted his backpack as he glided over to them. Jean noticed the slight bounce in his step. He must have been really excited to see the beach.

"You know we have to check in and unload before we even get to go swimming." Jean tsk'd and walked towards the grid of mailboxes across from the elevator. He sunk his hand into his pocket and grabbed the mail key, then unlocked the door designated for his room number.

Sasha smirked. "The rooms are under _you_r name, so that's on you."

"Yeah, Jeanny Boy." Connie mirrored his girlfriend's smirk, shifting the rubber tube he was holding to rest under his arm. "I'm pumped to get in the water. That's the first thing I plan to do."

"You guys are assholes." Jean groused as he stuck a hand into the narrow box. He expected to find only coupon catalogs or magazines he'd unwittingly subscribed to while purchasing things online, but his fingers touched against something that looked important.

It was a letter.

Curiously, Jean grabbed the envelope and scanned the front of it. In the top left corner it read "SHIGANSHINA COUNTY PENITENTIARY", with an address beneath. The letter was made out to… _Armin Arlert. _

'_What?' _Jean blinked, hazel eyes widening_. '…Why's Armin getting a letter from a prison?' _Jean furrowed his brows together and glanced over his shoulder. His friends were already heading towards the double doors that led to the parking lot.

"C'mon Jean! We still gotta pick up the others!" Connie called out to him as he pushed the door open.

"Gimme a sec." Jean turned his eyes back on the letter and cleared his throat. "..Hey, Armin… you have a letter. Looks kinda important." He held the envelope up between his middle and forefinger as he caught his gaze.

Armin, who was already halfway out of the door, paused to look back at him. He tilted his head and hummed in a dismissive manner. "I'll look at it when we get back." And then he was gone, saying something about how Jean needed to _hurry up. _

Jean sighed, giving the letter one last glance before tucking it back into the box and locking the door. If Armin didn't want to look at it, he supposed there was nothing that could be done until the weekend was over. Still, curiosity plagued his mind as he grabbed his surfboard and bag and jogged a little to catch up to his friends, who were already walking towards the black Pilot at the end of the lot.

* * *

_Friday, July 25__th__, 10:04am_

Jean cringed at the noise that sounded when Sasha practically slammed her palm into the steering wheel; blowing the horn for what had to be for like _five whole seconds_ before the door to the house they were parked in front of flung open.

"Jesus Christ, Sasha!" Eren cried out as he made his way down the path that divided his _expansive_ yard, a suitcase rolling behind him. "I heard you the first three times!"

"Then what took you so long?" With a grin, Sasha leaned her elbow out of the window as she pushed her aviators up to her hairline.

Mikasa emerged from the house after him, slinging her overnight bag across her shoulder as the pair walked towards the truck. Jean peeked at Armin as he leaned out of his own window to wave at his friends, and he internally thanked himself then for choosing the middle seat. Having Krista and Armin on either side of him meant Eren would be forced to the back and thus wouldn't be hoarding Armin's attention for the entirety of the damn car ide.

He leaned back into the suede of his seat as Mikasa and Eren loaded into the back to join Annie, who was curled up towards her window with her 3DS.

"Can we stop at the McDonald's we passed on the way here?" On Jean's right, Krista blinked and reached out to tap Sasha's shoulder. "I really want a hash brown..."

"Breakfast ended like... five minutes ago." Sasha practically whined as she looked to the clock next to the dashboard. "But hell yes. I want a Big Mac."

"Of course you do." Jean snorted a laugh and whipped out his iTouch. He'd wanted to show Armin… - well actually, he wasn't sure _what _he wanted to show him. He just wanted to talk to him, really. But when he looked over, Armin was already twisted around and chatting away with Mikasa and Eren. Jean swallowed a grumble and sank a little in his seat. He should have expected that.

One would think they'd be done after a while, _but fuck_. It only worsened when everyone got their McDonald's. Eren had made an obnoxious show about how he didn't eat that "processed bullshit", but the prick proceeded to allow Armin to feed him French fries while Jean just watched from a seat over, biting into his filet almost violently. He'd only blinked away from them when he felt a tiny hand on his forearm, and Krista leaning in to ask him if he was okay.

"M'fine." Jean had assured her, mouth full of what McDonald's tried to pass off as cod fish.

But to be frank, Jean wasn't so sure if he was. And he couldn't fathom _wh_y it bothered him so much. He didn't like Armin that way. And he and Eren were friends… like _childhood friends_. Of course their relationship would be that strong. But Jean could do without the displays of affection that sort of made him wonder if a friendship was all that was between them.

And then he remembered they were going to be sharing a bed, and he felt himself cringing again.

* * *

_Friday, July 25__th__, 12:41pm_

"Armin, what the hell?"

Armin tore his eyes away from his book and met two long, finely-haired legs planted at his side. He sat his book down on his towel and glanced up, catching the downcast gaze of a _very wet_ Jean.

"What?" Armin drew in a breath and shifted to lean on his thigh. "What's the matter?"

Jean's brows were furrowed, arms folded over his chest as he crouched down so they were at eye level. Armin caught the wisp of some sort of marking on his lower hip, just before the hem of his trunks. _'Does... does he have a tattoo?' _For some reason this surprised him. Armin didn't peg him as the type to have a tattoo - and on his hip, at that. He idly wondered the story behind it..

"Why are you sitting here by yourself? Everyone's out there." Jean pointed his finger in front of them, where all their friends seemed to be having a field day playing around in the water. Armin jutted out his lower lip as he turned back to the other boy. He_ did_ get in the water when they'd all arrived, but after spending an hour getting knocked over by those waves (and thrown around by Mikasa and Eren) Armin was tuckered out and wanted to continue his reading. Besides, basking in the ambience of this place was more than enough; the weather was lovely, the sky clear, and the saltiness that clung to the air was somehow calming to his senses.

The blonde bent his knees and crossed his legs at the ankle, lips parting to respond. But they were interrupted by an unfamiliar woman jogging up to them.

"Hey! Don't I know you?"

Her question was directed to Jean, who slowly stood and began rubbing at his nape. Both boys looked the woman up and down. She was dressed in a blue surf-suit with a board of her own tucked under her arm. Her skin shaded light brown, and she had a dust of freckles over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

"Uh.." Jean's eyes went squint, as if trying to place her face in his mind. "Oh—shit. Ymir?"

_Ymir _snorted and pushed her surfboard into the sand. "Long time no see, Jeen."

"It's _Jean_."

"Sorry, man."

Armin watched them converse, feeling extremely awkward yet again. This scene seemed to play often; Jean would run into someone he knew and Armin would be left out. The blonde heaved a sigh and began to reach for his book again, but a voice made him pause.

"So are you gonna introduce me to the cutie?" Ymir glanced at Armin with a small smile on her lips.

Armin blinked, drawing his hand back and looking at Jean in expectance. But the brunet boy just smirked.

"I thought we already knew each other, Ymir."

His words pulled a snort from both Armin and Ymir, and Armin gave Jean a look as he rose to his feet_. 'God, he's such a dork..' _He shook his head and giggled softly.

"I'm Armin. Nice to meet you."

"Ymir."

Armin's gaze went to her surfboard for a moment, then returned to her face. "You surf?" His eyebrows rose.

"Yep." Ymir nodded and gave a small poke to Jean's side. "I've beat this kid out in competitions for two years straight."

"Oh, fuck off!" Jean barked at her, baring his teeth and slapping her hand away with a jerk. "It was fucking close, each time."

Armin grinned at this. He took a step closer to Jean and gingerly brushed his fingers over his forearm. "She beat you, huh?" His tone grew teasing as he tilted his head up to look at him. "I thought you told me you were good at surfing."

The look Jean gave in response was _absolutely priceless_. It was a hybrid between a pout and a snarl, and his arms were crossed all defensively. _Cute_. Armin's grin broadened a bit.

"I _am_ good, but it's not fair when you put me up against a fuckin' professional." Jean muttered spitefully and turned his eyes away from them.

"No need to sulk, Kid." Ymir snickered, petting his shoulder in a flimsy attempt at consolation before her head shot around and her eyebrows nearly hit her hairline.

".._Holy shit_."

Both Armin and Jean followed her gaze. Krista was hiking her way up the small slope that led back from the shore, her arms stretched above her head. _And_ _she was dripping wet_. Armin had to swallow his breath.

"Who is _that_?" Ymir's mouth formed a small "o". "Is she with you guys?"

Jean narrowed his eyes and tsk'd quietly. "What's it to you? And pick your jaw off the floor, bro."

Armin just laughed, turning his head to send Ymir a small smile. "Her name's Krista."

"Krista.." Ymir placed a hand on her hip. When the blonde girl approached them she was smiling, her eyes shifting from Jean, to Armin, and finally settling o Ymir.

"Uh, hello." She lifted her hand in a wave. "I'm Krista."

If they'd been in an anime just then, there'd probably be little daisies fluttering around Krista's head. Armin had to bite his lip to refrain from laughing as Ymir made her fumbled attempt at a greeting. Jean noticed her struggle too, because he was smirking and looked like he was on the verge of saying something he probably shouldn't.

"I'm Ymir." She finally managed, waving back at the much-shorter girl. "..You know this loser?" Her hand was gesturing to Jean, who hissed.

Krista looked to Jean and patted him on the arm. That was really the best she could do, anyway. The girl was practically a dwarf. "Jean's not a loser! But I am with him… I mean, not _with him_." She blinked and blew out a small chuckle. "He and Armin are friends."

It was odd, but Armin felt a small twinge of joy when she referred to him as a _friend._ He found himself smiling again as he observed Ymir try to ask her something else – Armin presumed she was probably trying to get her to go somewhere with her - in the most wordy and scatter-minded way possible, and _God,_ if Armin hadn't been so shy he probably would have stepped in and blurted it out for her. But Jean seemed to already be on the case.

"This is getting exhausting to watch, fucking Christ." Jean sighed in exasperation. "Look, Kris, Ymir thinks you're cute and is trying to ask you out. Now don't get bashful. Ymir's pretty hot. You think so, right?"

Krista and Ymir both turned to Jean with gaping mouths, but their faces were equally as red.

"Thought so. Now just say yes to whatever she's gonna ask before she sweats off her freckles."

Armin keened a bit and pressed his palm to his face, shaking his head_. 'Jean, you're such a loser.' _This entire situation was giving him a severe case of secondhand embarrassment. Armin almost felt a blush creeping to his _own _face.

But despite the forwardness, Jean's urges _did_ seem to do the trick. Because when Armin finally thought it safe enough to look up again, Ymir and Krista were about to head off in another direction, and Jean was watching them, looking something like a proud parent.

"Well there's my good deed for the day." Jean chuckled to himself and dusted his hands together.

Armin rested his palm on his shoulder, giggling. "You could have been a _smidge_ more subtle."

"I'm not one for wasting time. What can I say?"

"Pfft." Armin dropped back down on his towel and grabbed for his book, only for Jean to plop in front of him, so close that their knees clanked. The blonde yelped in surprise.

"What now?"

"I'm not letting you sit here and read. _We're at the beach_." Jean's eyelids lowered. "You wanted to go, remember?"

"Of course I remember." Armin rested his hands beside his thighs and leaned forward. "Lots of people read while at the beach, Jean. It's relaxing."

"Yeah but.. you look all pitiful and lonely." The taller boy furrowed his brows.

Armin blinked. He was a bit taken aback by his words, but nevertheless he smiled, his head tilting to the side. "Lonely, huh?" Armin decided to test the waters and take a leap: be a little flirty, because why not? "Then… keep me company." He sunk his teeth into his lower lip. "I mean if you want to." _'Wow real smooth, Armin. Real smooth.'_

"You want me to keep you company?"

Armin had expected Jean to be smug about it but he seemed genuinely surprised – and a little happy – by the suggestion. He crossed his legs on the beach towel and rested his arms on his legs. "Sure thing."

Armin smiled and scratched his cheek with his index finger, feeling more than a little sheepish. His gaze once again lowered to the marking on his hip. He could ask him about it now, right? "...So… I have a question."

"What's that?" Jean blinked.

"You have a tattoo on your waist, right?" Armin could tell by the warm sensation in his cheeks that he was blushing, but at that moment he'd ignore it. His curiosity had gotten the best of him.

Jean's eyes shifted downward as well. "O-Oh.. you can see it?" When he looked back to Armin he was grinning really big, and Armin couldn't help but dawn one of his own. _'This dork..'_

"It's an anchor. I got it when I turned seventeen." Jean seemed hesitant for a moment before he lifted his hips off the towel and nudged his swim trunks down a tad, allowing Armin a full view of the tattoo. By now the blonde was sure he was red all the way down to his collarbone, but so was Jean, he noticed.

"Wow it's.." Armin had to swipe his tongue over his lip to keep his eyes _only_ on the tattoo, but it was difficult. Out of the peripheral of his vision he could see the light trail of hair that started beneath his naval and ran south, and the defined lines of flesh that outlined it.

"It's what..?" Jean let out a breath.

"It's nice." _'It's really sexy.'_ Armin cleared his throat as his eyes returned to his face. A moment passed, and Jean adjusted his swim trunks. "Thanks."

Both boys were beet red.

The silence that settled between them only lasted a few seconds, though, because Jean suddenly sprung himself backwards and let out a shriek so loud it caused a few nearby heads to turn. Armin's eyes widened and he gave him a panicked look.

"What? What's wrong?" He looked in the direction Jean had moved from, expecting to see something _actually frightening_, but when his eyes met a seagull pattering around the edge of the towel he couldn't resist a laugh.

"….It's just a seagull."

"Nah, son, I _fucking hate_ seagulls." Jean grumbled, his knees hugging to his chest.

'_God.. he's cute.' _Armin grinned, reaching over to shoo the bird away with his hand, then looked back at the taller boy. "But the beach is practically ridden with them."

Jean wrinkled his nose and, once the gull flew away, he slowly made his way back onto the towel. "They're okay when they're far away, but that thing got too close."

"I don't understand." Armin leaned on his thighs again, his legs tucked under him with his hand planted beside his hip. "They're harmless."

"They're thieving little shits that poop on your funnel cakes." Jean narrowed his eyes, and Armin could tell then he was speaking from personal experience. He reached out to pat him soothingly on the shoulder.

"..Hey.." The blonde looked to his left, eyes settling on the array of shops that lined the area outside of the beach. There was something that resembled an ice cream parlor stuck right in the middle. "I think I can see a Baskin Robbins on the boardwalk." He smiled. "You hungry?"

When he looked back in front of him, Jean was already standing with a toothy grin spread over his face – not unlike the one he'd done the day they met.

"Hell fuckin' yeah." He chuckled. "I live for their gummy bear toppings."

"I honestly haven't had it in forever, but I'm craving some ice cream." Armin grabbed the shoulder pouch that held his phone and his wallet and rose up, bumping Jean's hip with a playful grin.

"You're gonna owe me."

"No fair." The taller boy shoved him gently and began trekking through the sand towards the steps that led up to the boardwalk. "You offered."

"And you accepted." Armin did his best to catch up to him, but it was difficult. What would usually take a second in sand took a whole ten, and not to mention his feet were practically burning from the heat.

When they finally got up onto the boardwalk Armin tapped his finger to his chin, grinning with a sudden thought. "Hey Jean, doesn't being on the boardwalk remind you of the time I whooped your butt in Monopoly?"

"…Oh _fuck off_ Armin." Jean stuck his tongue out at the blonde, who just burst into a fit of laughter.

So much for keeping his distance. - Armin was pretty sure he had a crush.


	6. PLEASE READ!

**ATTENTION. I won't be updating here anymore! This fanfic can be found on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN UNDER THE USERNAME AREUMIN**

**Please don't look for updates here. I REPEAT THEY WILL BE ON AO3 UNDER THE USERNAME AREUMIN**


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